The present invention relates to a device for separating a cylindrical stencil from an interiorly positioned ink tube and for thereafter washing and cleaning the cylindrical stencil.
There have become known extremely large, and particularly relatively long, cylindrical screen stencils in the printing industry. During operation, such cylindrical screen stencils have extending therethrough an ink tube which is somewhat longer than the cylindrical screen stencil. Periodically it is necessary to dismantle the cylindrical screen stencils and ink tubes so that they may be washed and cleaned. Such operation has in the past been quite cumbersome due to the size of the cylindrical stencils and ink tubes and thus causes soiling and spillage. Additionally, the disassembly of the ink tube from the screen stencil involves a certain amount of danger of damaging the fragile stencil due to the length of the elements and due to the fact that the elements are thus difficult to handle.
In the past, there have been known devices designed to mechanically separate the stencil from the ink tube and thereafter wash and clean the stencil. However, all such known devices have failed to be completely satisfactory.